The tradition started way back in 1876, when Princeton and Yale began playing their annual football game on the fourth Thursday of November. And by the time the NFL was born more than four decades later, Thanksgiving football was already an American tradition.
Now it’s almost impossible to imagine getting through the holiday without it.
In fact, the games — and there has always been more than one since 1960 and three since 2007 — haven’t just produced some holiday fun and a distraction from food and family, they have regularly included some unbelievable performances and incredibly iconic moments. Some of them surely got a boost from playing out in front of a national television audience.
But some would have left an indelible mark on NFL history no matter what.
So here is a list of the 12 of the most iconic NFL Thanksgiving moments and performances — a combination of great feats, incredible gaffes, and things that are just seared into our collective memory. Hopefully, on Thursday the Giants and Cowboys, the Bears and Lions, and the Dolphins and Packers can provide a few more:
2013 — Coach interference
Jacoby Jones was on his way to the all-time holiday highlight reel, but he didn’t end up there for the reason he expected.
In the third quarter of the game between the Ravens and Steelers, Jones, the Ravens’ return man, received a kickoff after the Steelers’ first touchdown of the game. He caught the ball at the goal line, broke towards the left sidelines, and by the time he reached midfield he was behind the entire Steelers defense.
But at the Steelers’ 38-yard line, coach Mike Tomlin had wandered to the edge of the sideline with his back to the play as he watched it unfold on the end zone scoreboard. When he realized he might be in Jones’ way, he took one step onto the field and jumped back to the side, causing Jones to alter his path and slow down just a little. It was enough to allow the Steelers to catch up and tackle Jones at the 24.
The Ravens still won 22-20, but Jones was robbed of his touchdown and his big holiday moment.
Jacoby Jones had a return TD taken away by Mike Tomlin’s interference in 2013.
2012 — The Butt Fumble
Quite simply, one of the greatest bloopers in NFL history — and of course it happened to the Jets. It was an otherwise-unimportant play in the first half of a game against the Patriots with the Jets trailing 14-0. Quarterback Mark Sanchez was supposed to take the snap and turn to his right to hand the ball off fullback Lex Hilliard. But he turned to his left instead and no one was there. So he pivoted and tried to run it himself.
Except instead of finding a hole to run through, he ran face-first into the rear end of guard Brandon Moore and fumbled the football. Patriots safety Steve Gregory picked it up and ran it in for a 32-yard touchdown, capping the most Jets-like play there ever was.
2004 — Peyton’s Place
Peyton Manning was on a touchdown-throwing tear in 2004, well on his way to breaking Dan Marino’s single-season record of 48. He had thrown a ridiculous 18 in his last four games heading into the Indianapolis Colts‘ Thanksgiving game in Detroit.
Then he out-did himself with six touchdown passes against the Lions — three each to Marvin Harrison and Brandon Stokely. He was 23 of 28 for 236 yards that day, meaning 26% of his passes went for touchdowns. He would finish that season with a record-breaking 49.
1998 — You got Mossed!
Randy Moss grew up rooting for the Dallas Cowboys and was stunned and upset when they didn’t take him in the 1998 NFL Draft. So when he got his first chance to play against them as a rookie, he was determined to make them regret it. And he sure did. He only caught three passes that day, but he made each one of them count. He caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Randall Cunningham in the first quarter, a 56-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and a 56-yard touchdown pass in the third.
He finished with just those three catches for 167 yards — enough for the Vikings to hold on for a 46-36 win.
Randy Moss put on a Thanksgiving show in 1998.
1998 — Flip flub
The Steelers and Lions were headed to overtime, so the game was already exciting. But the real show came when the players went to midfield for the overtime coin toss. Steelers running back Jerome Bettis planned to call heads, because he won the opening toss of the game with the same call. But he hesitated when the coin was in the air, and after starting to say “Heads,” he changed his call to “Tails.”
But referee Phil Luckett heard “Heads,” and when the coin landed on tails he gave the Lions the ball. Bettis tried to argue, but Luckett insisted he called “Heads”. And of course, the Lions kicked a game-winning field goal on their first drive, so Pittsburgh never even got the ball.
1997 — Big Bad Barry
The 1997 season was filled with memorable performances from running back Barry Sanders on his way to being named the NFL MVP. But he may have locked up that vote by taking advantage of the Lions’ moment on a nationally televised stage. He torched the Chicago Bears for 167 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-20 win. Two of those touchdowns came in the third quarter after Chicago had cut Detroit’s lead to just seven points.
It was the 11th straight 100-yard game for Sanders, who ran the streak to 14 by the end of the season and finished with a remarkable 2,053 rushing yards.
1994 — Red to the Rescue
The Cowboys were rolling with a 9-2 record and battling the San Francisco 49ers for the top seed in the NFC. But as they headed into the holidays, starting quarterback Troy Aikman had a sprained knee and his backup, Rodney Peete, had an injured thumb. So Cowboys coach Barry Switzer had no choice but to turn to his third quarterback, a red-head from Princeton in just his second NFL season.
Jason Garrett had started one game as a rookie, but was benched after just two series. This game didn’t start well either, with Dallas falling behind the Green Bay Packers 17-3 in the second quarter. But that’s when Garrett got hot. He ended up completing 15 of 26 passes for 311 yards and two touchdown passes as he outdueled future Hall of Famer Brett Favre and led the Cowboys to a 42-31 win.
Backup QB Jason Garrett outdueled Brett Favre and the Packers in 1994.
1993 — ‘Oh nooooo … Leon Lett!’
Leon Lett had already become a national punchline earlier in 1993 when his premature celebration on a fumble return cost him a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII. This, though, might have been an even bigger blunder.
On an unusually snowy Thanksgiving day in Dallas, the Cowboys had a 14-13 lead as the Dolphins set up for a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. Dallas’ Jimmie Jones blocked it, though, seemingly securing the Cowboys’ win. But Lett, inexplicably, tried to pick up the loose ball, which immediately made it a “live” ball. He couldn’t grab it as he went sliding and scrambling in the snow, and the Dolphins ended up recovering it.
That gave Miami kicker Pete Stoyanovich a second chance, and this time his 19-yard kick was good, giving the Dolphins a 16-14 win and securing Lett’s place in Thanksgiving lore.
1989 — BOOM! A Thanksgiving tradition is born
The Thanksgiving game between the Eagles and Cowboys wasn’t very memorable. The Eagles dominated, allowing just 191 total yards in an easy, 27-0 win. But it became a classic at the end of the game when Hall of Fame broadcaster John Madden decided that Eagles defensive end Reggie White was the MVP of the game and would be “the guy that gets the drumstick award.”
And just like that, a Thanksgiving tradition was born. Madden, who would go on to a long career at FOX, gave out turkey legs (and sometimes whole turkeys) to the MVP of every Thanksgiving game he broadcast. He gave the award to Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith the next year and lamented that there weren’t enough legs to let him share it with his offensive linemen. So one year later, a barbeque owner in Texas created a six-legged turkey for him. And in 1996, Madden began handing out legs of the infamous “Turducken,” often using the telestrator to explain it.
Madden passed away in 2021, but his tradition is still carried on by Fox Sports today.
Lions players take part in John Madden’s Thanksgiving Day tradition.
1982 — The LT Pick-6
It was an ugly game, early in a strike-shortened season and there had been very little action though the first three quarters with the Giants and Lions tied 6-6. But the Lions were driving in the fourth quarter and had reached the New York 4-yard line. That’s when quarterback Gary Danielson dropped back and looked left, hoping to hit running back Horace King in the flat for a touchdown.
But Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor read the play perfectly, darted in front of King and picked the ball off at the 3. He then sprinted untouched down the sidelines for a 97-yard return and the only touchdown of the game. The Lions actually had one more shot, driving back to the Giants’ 4-yard line in the final five minutes. But Danielson was picked off again, this time by cornerback Terry Jackson, to end the game.
1980 — A very unhappy return in Detroit
The Detroit Lions were 7-5 and thought they were headed towards their first playoff berth in 10 years. They were even leading the Chicago Bears 17-3 entering the fourth quarter of this holiday game and 17-10 in the final minute. But a four-yard touchdown run by Bears quarterback Vince Evans on the final play of regulation tied the game.
Then the Bears won the overtime coin toss and another disaster struck in Detroit. Chicago’s Dave Williams fielded the kickoff at the 5-yard line, broke through the Lions defense at the 20, and then outraced them all down the sideline for a 95-yard touchdown and a 23-17 Bears win. The Lions would finish the season 9-7 … and miss the playoffs by virtue of a conference record tiebreaker with the Minnesota Vikings.
1976 — The juice breaks loose
Three years after becoming the first player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season (2,003 in 1973), O.J. Simpson was still on top of his game and clearly the best runner in the NFL. He proved that in a Thanksgiving masterpiece when he rushed 29 times for a single-game record 273 yards, including second-half touchdown runs of 48 and 12 yards.
Simpson, though, was the only good thing about that Bills team. He accounted for an astonishing 85% of their total yards that day (273 of 322). But it wasn’t enough. The Bills lost to the Lions 27-14 — their eighth straight loss in what would be a 10-game losing streak in a season they finished at 2-12.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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